The Industrial Design profession’s national representative organisation in the UK has appealed for designers to band together a share a new ‘common interest’ platform. British Design Innovation (BDI) is concerned that product, service and interaction designers will lose ground to other countries and rival sectors if they don’t all work together much more closely in future.

BDI member Greenwich Design, the London-based strategic branding consultancy, has implemented a global signage project for client HSBC.

In a collaborative partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant Services (NHSBT), BDI member Renfrew Group International, the Leicester-based Industrial Design consultancy, has designed a completely new type of user-centred phlebotomy chair that enhances the blood donation experience for donors and phlebotomists alike. The Donation Chair is now undergoing national trials in NHS phlebotomy clinics and mobile centres.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles are to invest up to £25m in collaborative R&D and demonstration projects that will accelerate the commercialisation of low carbon vehicles. Low Carbon Vehicles: the road to market will encourage a reduction of costs in the supply base and a faster adoption of new technologies. The deadline for expressions of interest is 28 March.

Hosted by Good Design Australia, the Australian International Design Awards set an international benchmark of design excellence and quality in products and services and are recognised as the country's major design and innovation assessment and promotion vehicle. Deadline for entries is 30 March.

Designers have until 10 April to enter the second Core77 international design awards, with an early-bird discount deadline of 13 March. Entries can be submitted online. Categories for the New York-based awards include consumer design, DIY, furniture and lighting, interaction, interiors and exhibitions, packaging, service, social impact, strategy and research, transport and visual communication.

Former CBI director-general Richard Lambert has said in advance of the 21 March Budget that the government must commit to retaining the research and development (R&D) tax credit scheme. All of the UK’s major competitor countries have a tax credits scheme, and the CBI is worried that the UK will lose business abroad if the programme is scrapped.

The James Dyson Award 2012 is now open for entries. THE BRIEF: design something that solves a problem. THE PRIZE: £10,000 to you and £10,000 to your university department. ENTRY DEADLINE: 2 August 2012.

The list of things that contain rare earths is almost endless, from smartphones and hybrid vehicles to cordless power drills and cruise missiles – they’re one reason why so many electronic devices have become so small. But over the next decade China, which supplies 97 per cent of the world’s rare earth needs, is expected to steadily reduce exports in order to protect supplies to its own industries, which already consume about 60 per cent of the rare earths produced there.

The Make it in Great Britain Challenge is a nationwide competition that aims to identify innovative British pre-market products, processes and concepts. Winning entries will form part of this summer’s Great British Manufacturing exhibition at the Science Museum London.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world’s top-rated universities, has announced free courses which can be studied and assessed completely online. An electronics course, beginning in March, will be the first prototype of the online project, known as MITx. The interactive course is designed to be fully automated, with successful students receiving a certificate. MIT says it wants MITx to “shatter barriers to education”.

BDI member Renfrew Group International, the Leicester-based Industrial Design consultancy, has delivered the Meditrox 100, a powerful new and innovative hospital sanitiser, in a collaborative partnership with client Steritrox, who developed a patented system capable of removing airborne and surface-borne infection from a hospital ward or operating theatre quickly and efficiently.

In this 15-minute RSA lecture from BBC Radio's Four Thought series, Gerard Darby argues that creativity is just as vital in science and engineering as it is in art and drama, but that the present education system is undermining it and is in urgent need of reform. He highlights some novel approaches, and explains why this matters for the individual, for our wider society and for the economy.

A one-off £2m funding competition for technology-inspired innovation is to open on 12 March for small and micro companies working independently or in collaboration with a partner. Projects can last up to four months and are eligible for grants of up to £25,000. A briefing event for potential applicants will be held in London on 20 March.

Industry professionals, students and schools have until 27 April to enter the Starpack Awards 2012. Now in their 53rd year, the Starpack Awards recognise innovation in packaging design and technology and are open to packaging and design professionals, students and schools. Hosted by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), the event recognises innovation, promotes best practice in packaging design and champions consumer needs while supporting the environment.

Citi has partnered with the Financial Times and INSEAD to sponsor the FT/Citi Ingenuity Awards: Urban Ideas in Action, a global program to recognise ingenious solutions to urban challenges in the fields of education, energy, healthcare and infrastructure. Entry deadline is 31 March.

Nano4Design Workshops are hosted by the Nanotechnology KTN, who are following up their successful Nano4Sport inaugural event with a Nano-enhanced Textiles workshop in London on 28 February. The workshop highlights key developments in embedded electronics, smart materials and surface coatings technologies that enable interactivity and protection from moisture, shock and wear-and-tear.

The Sign Design Society is to hold an international conference on signing and wayfinding at the University of Greenwich on 11 April. "Dateline London: The world is coming" is aimed at planning and wayfinding professionals, and will discuss how London will cope with the challenge of hosting the London 2012 Olympics.

The French marque Renault will be visiting four UK university campuses with their two seater Twizy in February to promote a student design competition based on the 100% electric runabout . The lucky first prize-winner will receive enough money to cover a years’ worth of tuition fees. The competition ends on 20 February and winners will be announced on 16 April.

Winter is the peak season for boilers breakdowns in the home due to blockages in the condensate pipe, which result in a failure of central heating systems and hot water supply. In a collaborative partnership between Nottinghamshire-based heating engineer Adrian Morley and BDI member Canard Design, the product design and engineering consultancy came up with a solution within one year that retails at £89 but could save homeowners and fitters thousands of pounds in repair bills.